Category: Actions

Lead with Languages is a campaign started by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL).

WHO WE ARE: With language skills growing in importance in the job market, yet fewer than 1 in 10 Americans able to speak a second language, Lead with Languages is a national campaign aimed at making language proficiency a national priority.

WHAT WE DO: We seek to raise awareness across the U.S. and motivate people to take action around the rapidly rising importance of language skills to a wide array of careers—and to our nation’s economy, national security and international standing.

WHY WE DO IT: Our ultimate goal is to create a new generation of Americans competent in other languages and cultures and fully equipped to compete and succeed in a global economy.

Graduating high school seniors could have the opportunity this spring to earn a Seal of Biliteracy from the state of Michigan designating their ability to speak and write two languages.
The Michigan Department of Education is launching the program this year. High school graduates who can demonstrate an “intermediate/high” proficiency in two languages, through an approved assessment, will be eligible to earn the seal.

The American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) launched an important campaign that focuses on raising awareness about the importance of learning another language besides English for American society. “Lead with Languages”, which was launched in late February.

It is “is a multi-year campaign aimed at reversing the nation’s language skills gap and making language learning a national priority. The campaign seeks to build awareness across the U.S. about the growing importance of language skills to a wide array of careers – and to our nation’s economy, national security and international standing – with the ultimate goal of supporting a new generation of Americans competent in other languages and cultures and equipped to compete and succeed in a global economy.”

On Thursday, February 16th, more than 150 language experts from across the U.S. will descend on Capitol Hill to lobby for languages.

Dr. William P. Rivers, the Executive Director of the Joint National Committee for Languages (JNCL-NCLIS), the organization that hosts Language Advocacy Day, shares why he and hundreds of others believe that foreign languages need advocacy and how any concerned citizen can advocate for languages in their community.

“Lexington for Elementary School Foreign Languages” or Lex4Lang is an initiative by a group of parents and teachers who advocate for teaching foreign languages in elementary schools in Lexington, MA. After some programs were eliminated due to funding cuts, the initiative formed and actively seeks to get programs re-instated.